Love is Closer Than You Think
by frankenteenandsnix
Summary: Finn and Santana are roommates in New York. What happens when one of them starts to feel something for the other? Finntana Relationship. A little bit of Rachel and Kurt thrown in on the side.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, so here's the thing. Santana's super fucking grateful that Rachel and Kurt took her in when she needed a place to stay, but she didn't know that living with them meant she had to become their fucking house maid. Seriously, though. Rachel leaves all her stuff around the apartment and Santana has picked up at least one of every type of clothing known to man. And Kurt _always_ leaves his dishes in the sink, hoping that, who knows, the fucking dishwashing fairy will come and wash it for him. Santana ends up being the one having to wash them and put them in the dishwasher. Not to mention the fact that Brody walks around the place acting like a fucking king. And Rachel just goes along with it. She waits on the guy hand and foot. Like, what the fuck? She didn't come to New York to clean up after other people like she's their fucking mom. Hell to the fucking no.

And quite frankly, she's sick of it.

So now she's looking for somewhere else she can live. She needs to get the hell out of the apartment as soon as possible. The thing is, though, she didn't exactly _tell_Rachel and Kurt yet. Sure, she's dropped some hints about maybe finding her own place, but she hasn't really told them that she's serious about it. She figures she'll tell them when she actually finds a place.

After about only a week of looking she finally finds an apartment. It's only like two blocks from her place now and she already went to go see it. She decides it's perfect. And because her daddy loves her, he agrees that he'll pay for everything while she gets herself on her feet. Which she _is_ doing, by the way.

She's taking a few dance classes (thank you, daddy) at NYADA and the first day she showed up she was asked by the instructor if she wanted to come back and teach of few of the younger kids. NYADA has this early-start dance academy that parent's can pay to send their kids too. The instructor, Daniel, told her that she would get paid and that she'd have free range to teach however she wants to as long as the parents get what they're paying for. So, hell fucking yes, she took the job. She's already trained in ballet and hip-hop so they just assigned her to those two classes.

And usually Santana hates kids. Well, she doesn't _hate_kids but, you know, she doesn't really enjoy them. But surprisingly, these kids are like super fucking cool. They are all really talented and they listen to her and shit so she doesn't have a problem with any them. There's this one girl in her ballet class that reminds her exactly of herself at her first ballet classes. It's cute. And you know what? She likes her job. Actually, she kinda loves it. She loves being able to provide for herself (even if sometimes daddy puts money into her bank account, thinking she doesn't notice). It's a good feeling.

Her father calls her one day while she's walking home from the dance studio and tells her that all the paperwork is signed her apartment is ready for her to move into whenever she's ready. Maybe she squeals in the middle of a busy New York sidewalk, but she's excited, okay? She's never had a place to herself. Like a _real_place to call her own so she thinks she's allotted some excitement. She thanks her dad and tells him she'll call him later tonight to get all the details and stuff then she practically runs home to start packing.

Is it obvious how eager she is to get the fuck out?

She gets to the apartment she shares with Rachel and Kurt in record time and pushes the door open with a wide smile on her face. Rachel and Kurt are on the couch watching their weekly dose of Barbra Streisand (Rachel has this thing where she _has_to watch at least one Barbra Streisand movie every week, it's weird, but whatever). Santana walks over to them and stands in front of the t.v. placing her hands on her hips.

"I'm moving out."

So the conversation about Santana moving out didn't go as well as she planned. But it's not like she gives a shit about what they had to say anyway. She was moving out whether they liked it or not so, yeah. They basically told her that it was rude that she didn't give them, like, a heads up or something so they could work out the money and stuff and yeah, Santana could've done that, but she didn't, so, boo hoo. It's not her problem anymore. Then she told them that she was most likely gonna be gone by tomorrow and that she'll still pay her third of the rent for this month before leaving.

Which she did.

Now, she's standing in her brand new apartment with her suitcase by her side and smile on her face and she feels like, accomplished or something. Whoever said that Santana Lopez wouldn't make it in New York needs to seriously fuck off and die because guess what? She's made it, bitches.

Her parents are flying in today to help her go furniture shopping and stuff and her mom told her that they would pay for everything. She said it was kind of like a housewarming gift from the both of them. They really don't need to give her any gifts, but Santana is not complaining. She loves being spoiled by her parents. She's an only child so she was spoiled a lot as a child. She still is kind of spoiled, actually. But fuck you if you think that makes her a brat. Because it doesn't. And she isn't one.

About an hour later she gets a knock on her door and pulls it open to find her parents. They're both smiling brightly at her and Santana jumps forward to give them hugs and kisses on their cheeks.

After she grabs their hands, bringing them inside, she slams the door shut with her foot and says, "Thank you so much, daddy. I love it."

Her dad smiles, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You deserve it, princess." Santana smiles brightly and takes them on a little tour. She shows them the bathroom, the master bedroom, where her mother comments on the big walk-in closet, and finally the spare bedroom she has. While walking down the hall, her dad asks, "Did you want to get a roommate or something, Santana?"

Santana shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. I wasn't really looking for one."

"We just don't want you to be alone all the time, sweetheart." Her mother chimes in. Her father nods, wrapping his arm around her dad's waist. "New York is very dangerous city and-"

"And I'm more than capable of taking care of myself." Santana says, cutting her off and crossing her arms over her chest.

Her mother sighs and crosses her arms over her chest, too. Can you see where she gets it from? "It would just make us feel better knowing that there was someone else here with you."

Santana sighs, rolling her eyes. She knows that her parents care and that's why they're bringing this up. So she'll go along with it. "Maybe." she says, giving in. "Maybe after I've settled in and stuff I'll start asking around."

Her mother and her father both smile graciously at her and nod. "That's all we ask." Her mom says, then claps her hands together. "Now. I think we have some shopping to do."

Santana's face immediately brightens up as she grabs her purse off the floor and leads her parents out the door.

There's nothing like shopping in New York with your parents who insist on paying for everything.

Life is good.

* * *

So, if she thought she loved her apartment before now, she was lying. Well, maybe she wasn't. But now, she's _in_love with her apartment.

It's been a week since her parents were in town and took her shopping but she's finally settled in. And her apartment looks fan-_fucking-_tastic. She and her parents went to at least seven different home improvement stores to find exactly what Santana wanted. She decided to paint her walls a gorgeous Moroccan Red with a dark brown paint outlining the edges. It looks amazing. She got a living room set and went for all leather. She likes leather, okay?

Anyway, her bedroom's color scheme is a really rich chestnut color and she loves it. She decided to do the guest bedroom simple and just put a bed, a dresser, and a bedside table with a lamp in it. She's not expecting anyone to be in there anytime soon anyway. But she has thought about getting a roommate, just because her parents suggested it, but she's in no rush.

She's in the middle of catching up on her favorite t.v. show, Grey's Anatomy, when a commercial pops up and she finds herself admiring her beautiful new home. It really is amazing. As soon as her show starts back up, she gets a knock on her door. Wondering who the fuck it could be, she stands up from her couch and makes her way to her door. She undoes the lock and rolls her eyes at who she sees behind the door.

"Surprise!"

Whoever gave Rachel Berry her knew address is going to get a Lima Heights smack down. It was probably her mom. And for that reason and that reason only Santana won't go batshit crazy. Rachel is standing in front of her, holding a fucking fruit basket with a huge as smile on her face and Santana can see Kurt standing behind Rachel and she knows that he was just dragged here against his will. Rachel likes to do shit like that.

"What are you doing here?"

"We came to visit you!"

"Why?"

Rachel rolls her eyes, shifting the big ass basket in her hand. Santana has no idea why she even bought that thing. She hates fruit. "We just wanted to see how you were doing." She explains looking over her shoulder at Kurt, who nods in agreement. "And we wanted to see your new place."

"Yeah." Kurt chimes in, "We wanted to see how Satan was adjusting in her new environment."

Santana rolls her eyes, figuring they aren't going to leave until they see her place, and steps aside to let them in. Both Rachel and Kurt gasp as they look around and Santana lets a little smirk appear on her face. Her apartment is badass. She shows them the living room, the kitchen, the bathroom, the guest bedroom and her room. Rachel and Kurt comment on everything and Santana just smiles all nicely and tries not to roll her eyes at them. It's not like she doesn't already know her place is the shit, but it's always nice to hear a few compliments.

When they make their way back to the living room, Rachel puts her hand on Santana's shoulder and says, "Everything looks great, Santana." And Santana smiles at her because she know she's being genuine. Kurt smiles at her too and she knows that even though they couldn't handle living together, they can still hang out and stuff.

"Thank you." She says, plopping down on the couch. Rachel sits down next to her and Kurt sits in one of the other seats she has on the side. "My parents really wanted me to be comfortable."

"They must've succeeded because you look very happy."

Santana looks over at Kurt and shrugs. "I guess." Rachel gives her this sad little smile before looking down to the ground. Santana looks over to Kurt, silently asking him what the hell's going on with her but he only shrugs his shoulders. "Hey, Berry, you feeling okay?"

Rachel's head shoots up."I'm great!" Not. "I'm fine, just tired I guess." Santana narrows her eyes at her because she knows this chick is lying to her. You can always tell when Rachel's lying.

"She found out Finn's moving up here." Kurt blurts out then slaps a hand over his mouth after Rachel glares at him.

Oh.

That explains her looking like someone just killed her cat. Makes sense.

Rachel and Finn had broken up only a few weeks ago and Rachel was still feeling down about the whole thing. Which Santana doesn't get why, she's the one who broke up with him. But, whatever. Finn coming out to New York is just gonna cause problems. For Rachel, anyway. Santana has actually come to like the Jolly Green Giant ever since her last visit to Lima.

"Who told you?"

"Tina." They both say at the same time. Of course. That girl has been the fucking gossip queen since her senior year started.

"Do you know _why _he's coming up here?"

"Nope."

"Do you know when?"

"Nope."

"Do you know anything?"

"Not really."

Okay. So she knows nothing. Santana looks over at Kurt and raises an eyebrow toward him, "What about you? He's _your_step brother, you must know _something_."

Kurt looks between her and Rachel before sighing heavily. "Okay, all I know is that he's coming up here for school. My dad called me last week and told me. Apparently Finn didn't really think that working at the auto shop for the rest of his life was in his future."

Santana nods as she thinks over what Kurt just told them. Finn Hudson was moving to New York.

For college.

This should be interesting.

* * *

"_Hello?_"

"Finn?"

"_Santana?_"

"Yep."

"_Santana Lopez?_" Santana rolls her eyes as she takes a sip of her beer. She loves the fact that she can just come home to peace and quiet and have a drink while she sits on the couch and watches TV.

"Do you know any other Santanas, Frankenteen?"

"_Oh._" She hears him say quietly, "_It is you._"

What the hell does that mean? "Try not to sound so excited to hear from me, Finn."

"_No! Shit, I-_" He sighs over the phone and Santana chuckles a little. "_Can we start over?_"

"Knock yourself out."

"_Okay!_" He says and then Santana hears him clear his throat or something, "_Hi, Santana! How are you?_"

Santana laughs as she turns down the volume of her TV. "I'm good." She replies.

"_That's good_." He says and she can hear the faint sound of his mom calling him for something. Then she hears him tell her that he doesn't need anything and that he'll see her later.

"Do you need to go?"

"_What? Oh! No. She's just telling me she's going out to the store._"

"Okay, well, I hear from a little Kurtie that you were moving to The Big Apple."

"_Uh, yeah. I should be up there next week sometime._"

"Where are you staying?"

"_I was gonna stay at the dorms for now until I found a place_."

"I have a proposition for you." She says into the phone as she takes another sip of her beer before setting in on the coffee table in front of her.

"_A pro-proposition? What kind of proposition?_"

"Well," she starts and leans back into her leather couch a little more. "I just moved out of Rachel and Kurt's and my parents bought me an apartment so I'm looking for a roommate. You interested?"

"_Yes!_" She hears him shout through the phone and it makes her laugh. He's such a huge goof it's insane. But she doesn't blame him. She has a few friends who she's met through her dance classes that live in the dorms over at NYU, where most of them go to school, and she knows that it sucks ass. "_I-I mean, yes I would love to. If you're sure though. I don't want you to feel like you need to house me or anything._"

"It's fine, Finn. My parents wanted me to get a roommate, anyway. They think I'll be safer that way."

"_Yeah._" She knows he's probably nodding right now with a serious look on his face. "_I get what they mean. New York's a dangerous place. And you being alone there probably worries them a lot._"

"Yeah, so, are you in or are you in?"

"_Hm. I gonna say I'm in_."

"So let me know when you're gonna get in next week and we'll figure out everything then."

"_Sounds good._"

"Yep. So I'll talk to you later?"

"_Okay, bye_." She's about to hang up when she hears him say, "_Hey Santana?_"

"Yeah?"

"_Thanks._" And shit. He sounds so genuine that she can't help but smile. Even if he can't see her right now.

"Bye, Finn."

* * *

She's coming out of her last dance class when she gets a text from Finn telling her that he's gonna be flying in tomorrow. She texts him her address and asks if he needs a ride or something but he tells her he'll just catch a cab. Which is fine with her because he tells her his flight comes in at seven in the fucking morning. And no, she doesn't wanna wake her ass up at six just so she doesn't catch traffic. So yeah, she's thankful for fucking cabs.

Plus she's super tired. She had to teach dance classes all week and even had to cover for one of the older kid classes when their teacher called in sick. Which is whatever. Santana knows that bitch calls in 'sick' every other week. She has no idea why the chick's still teaching. The kids hate her (they all told Santana that today). Plus they said she sometimes shows up hungover and just lets them do whatever the fuck they want. Which is not what the rich, snobby parents are paying for so yeah, that's fucked up. Santana made a note to herself to let Daniel know what the fuck is going on with that bitch.

She meets up with Rachel that night and the two of them go out for drinks. When Santana first got to New York, she was determined to find the best hang out spots. This bar they found wasn't too far from their apartment and the bartender is super cool and gives them free drinks all the time. And yes, maybe Santana slept with him once upon a time but it didn't change anything. It was a one night thing. No big deal. She and Rachel, and sometimes Kurt, still go there every once in awhile and have a few drinks to take a load off.

Rachel tells her about an audition she has that's coming up in a few weeks for a small role in a student film. She says it could possibly be her big break and that she needs to be extra prepared. Santana asks what the film is about and the girl doesn't even know. The 'director' said that it was a artistic remake on a modern film. Whatever the hell that means. Santana looks at Rachel skeptically, but still wishes her luck. She's not _that _much of a bitch.

They end up having only a few drinks before Santana decides it's time to go home. She and Rachel catch a cab, which drops Rachel off first, leaving Santana to pay the fare. She doesn't mind though. Her teaching job at NYADA pays really good. And her dad still drops some cash into her account thinking she won't notice, even though she totally does, so that helps too. As soon as she's home, she sheds her clothes off and climbs into bed before going straight to sleep.

She wakes up the next morning to a banging noise on her door and she seriously wants to shoot whoever it is. Literally. She has a huge ass headache and her throat feels like it's on life and she's fucking hungry. And this knocking noise is just not going away. So she pulls herself out of her bed, she's still half asleep mind you, and slowly makes her way to the front door. She has full intention to bitch out whoever is on the other side of her door but she can't.

Because it's fucking Finn standing in front of her.

Fuck.

She forgot his flight was getting in this morning.

He's sporting this goofy ass smile on his face with his suitcase in his hand and a duffel over his shoulder and he's just looking at her like he's waiting for her to acknowledge him. If she were fully awake right now she might notice how hot he looks right now. But she's not, so.

"I hate you." Those are the first words out of her mouth. And she didn't mean for those words to be the first she says to him but it's just what she's feeling at the moment. Hatred.

"Um." He looks confused. Which he has every right to be. She's not really making sense right now. She _is _half asleep after all. "Sorry?"

Santana just rolls her eyes and steps back to let him in. "Get in here, Frankenteen." Finn smiles, almost nervously, as he grabs the handle of his suitcase and walks inside. She slams the door shut as soon as he's inside and moves to flop down on the couch. "I went out last night." she explains, burying her head in a pillow. "I feel like death."

Finn leaves his bags by the ground and comes to sit next to her on the couch picking up her legs and setting them in his lap. Santana's not gonna admit it to anyone but when he starts to massage her feet she instantly feels ten times better. Which is weird. So she says nothing and just closes her eyes as she tries to stop the pounding in her head from driving her crazy. "Do you, uh, want some coffee or something?" His voice makes her jump and she peeks one eye open to look at him.

"Make me pancakes." She hears Finn laugh before her legs are being moved again and she opens both her eyes to see him moving around the couch and heading down the hall. For a second she feels kinda bad for not showing him around and making him comfortable and stuff but right now she doesn't give a shit. And if he can't find his own way to the kitchen then they're gonna have some major problems with this whole roommate thing. Regardless, she lets a smile creep on her face as she turns on her side and snuggles into the couch. She likes that he didn't even argue or complain about what she told him to do, he just acted.

She must've fallen asleep or something because the next time she wakes up it's to Finn gently shaking her shoulder and whispering her name. She feels a little better than she did the first time she woke up but she still groans and swats at his hand saying, "Go away." and Finn laughs again and she feels him shift on the couch.

"I made you strawberries. And whipped cream."

Okay. So she didn't even know she _had_ strawberries in her fridge so she has no idea how he found that. But she gets a whiff of those pancakes and her mouth immediately begins to water. She opens her eyes and the first thing she sees is Finn's smiling face. It's not exactly the worst thing to wake up to. She turns her head slightly and sees a plate of pancakes with, yes, whipped cream and strawberries on top. There's also a cup of coffee and a glass of juice next to it. And he even brought out the maple syrup.

She just might have to keep him.

"Are you just gonna stare at me all day or are you gonna get me a fork?"

Santana sits up and stretches as Finn grabs the plate off the table and places it in her lap. She yawns and holds her hand out to take the fork he offers her and she can feel him watching her as she pours a little syrup on her pancake. She hates when they're drenched in syrup. It's just disgusting so she's happy he left the syrup on the side for her to pour. She cuts herself off a little piece and stuffs it into her mouth and holy fucking hell. These might be the best pancakes she's ever tasted and Finn looks smug as hell when she lets out a little moan of happiness.

"Okay, when the hell did you become Betty Crocker?"

Finn laughs as he sits back on the couch, shaking his head. Santana's cuts herself another piece and pops it into her mouth. Fuck. She thinks it's getting better with every bite. "My mom taught me how to cook when I was younger." he says, looking down at his hands. "I was home alone a lot so she figured she might as well teach me. So, you know, I wouldn't starve or something."

Santana chuckles a little, leaning forward to get the cup of coffee and takes a sip of it. Perfect. "Well she must be a fabulous cook because these pancakes are fucking amazing." She says through another bite of pancakes. She looks at Finn, who's just sitting there looking around her apartment, and taps him on the shoulder. "Your room's down the hall and the first door on the left. The bathroom is right next to yours and my room's right across."

Finn nods and smiles at her, "Thank you, again." He says, tilting his head to the side. "I really appreciate you doing all of this, Santana."

"Don't worry about it."

"So, how're we gonna divide up bills and stuff?"

Santana shrugs as she chews on another piece of pancake. "My dad pays for the rent and all that stuff so you really don't have to pay anything." She tells him nonchalantly.

Finn's eyebrows furrow like he's mad or something and he has this serious look on his face when he says, "I wanna pay something, San. I don't want to, like, live off off you or anything."

"Finn, you really don't have to. My dad-"

"I want to." His voice is firm when he says this and Santana's eyes widen. His jaw is tightened and he looks pretty serious. It's kinda hot, actually. She's never seen this confident and demanding side of him before.

"Okay, fine." She puts her empty plate on the table and takes the final gulp of coffee before saying, "Let's make a deal, okay?"

Finn looks a little skeptical but nods anyway. "Okay, fine."

Santana sits the cup next to her plate before turning toward him on the couch. "We'll split the money for grocery and household and all that other stuff and then we'll be even."

Finn scrunches up his face as he rolls the idea over in his brain. He really shouldn't have all that much to think about. It's a pretty awesome deal if you ask her. But he finally says, "Deal." holding his hand out for her to shake.

Santana laughs as she shakes his hand. "Oh!" She says, squeezing his hand a bit, "And you have to make pancakes for breakfast at least once a week."

"Santana Lopez, you've got yourself a deal."

* * *

The first week of Finn living with her goes by pretty well. He made breakfast for her all week. Which, yeah, was fucking awesome. Turns out that making pancakes isn't the only thing he's good at. He's a pretty clean guy so she didn't have to see any of his shit lying all over the place. And he just started school yesterday so he's not really home during the daytime. But she's not either. She has her dance classes she takes and then right after she teaches a back to back ballet class. By the time she gets home she's fucking exhausted and just wants to crash. Usually when she comes home Finn's just sitting on the couch watching some TV, or he's doing some homework, but there's always dinner in the oven waiting for her. Finn's a fucking beast in the kitchen. Seriously. He made this sausage noodle thing his second night here and it blew her mind. After dinner she usually just curls up on the couch and they watch a movie or one of her favorite TV shows until she's ready for bed. It's a pretty good living dynamic.

It's Friday night and Santana's fucking tired as hell. She had a bunch of new kids join one of her hip-hop classes that she teaches so it was harder to keep them all under control. But she handled it. When she walks in the door, the only light on is the one in the kitchen and she drops her duffel bag by the door and throws her keys on the front table.

She walks through the house calling, "Finn?" but gets no answer. When she gets to the kitchen it's empty but she sees a note on the fridge so she picks it up and it reads, '_Hey, San. Going out with a few friends. Might be back late so don't wait up. -Finn. P.S. I left you some chicken parm in the oven, all you gotta do is warm it up!_' Santana frowns a little as she reads over the note twice but shrugs her shoulders anyway. She throws the note away before pulling open the oven door and smirking when she sees her dinner sitting in there.

After taking a long, hot shower, she warmed up the plate Finn left for her and plopped herself on the couch with her food and a beer. She missed Grey's Anatomy last night so she watches that as she devours the chicken parmesan Finn made. And of course, it's awesome. It's about one in the morning when she goes to bed. Finn's still not home so she leaves the kitchen light on for him before walking to her bedroom and closing the door behind her.

The next morning, she's up before he is, which is weird (not really), so she puts a pot of coffee on and hops up onto the counter with a magazine in her hand to wait for it. She's sipping on her coffee and munching on a piece of toast she made herself when she hears shuffling in the hallway. Her eyes glance up to see Finn walking in the kitchen, his hair is a fucking mess and he's rubbing at his eyes, oh and he's only wearing his boxers. It's not the first times she's seen him half naked but she is definitely not complaining.

"Morning, sunshine."

Finn groans out a gruff, "Morning," as he walks over to the coffee pot and pours himself some. Santana watches as he stretches out his back causing his muscles to ripple and she's gotta admit, it's not a bad view.

She opens her mouth to to say something but before she can a petite blonde stumbles into the kitchen looking like she just got back from hell. Literally. Her hair is fucked. Her shirt is half on and she only has one shoe on. In four words, she looks like shit. The chick glances at Santana first then Finn.

"I-I'm gonna go, Finn."

Santana looks back and forth between Finn and the girl and raises an eyebrow as Finn says, "Bye." without even looking at her. He's obviously more interested in the coffee mug that's in his hands but the blonde looks a little confused and like she wants to say something but then Santana glares at her and she must decide against it because she just turns around and hurries out of the kitchen.

After she hears the front door Santana looks over at Finn, "Have fun last night?" she chuckles as she takes another sip of her coffee.

Finn shrugs as he puts a piece of toast in the toaster. "It was okay."

"Did you sleep with her?"

"Yeah."

"Was it good?"

"Not really."

Is it bad that she's happy about that?

* * *

"You watch weird TV shows."

Santana looks up from her toes that she was painting and gives Finn a confused look, "What?"

"You watch weird TV shows." He repeats as he's scrolling through the DVR menu. And first of all, no, she does not watch weird TV shows. She watches the best fucking TV shows ever. So Finn can just suck it.

"I do not."

"Yes, you do."

"No I don't!" She snaps, twisting the cover back on the purple nail polish she was using, and glares at him. She was off today and Finn only had a class this morning so they decided to just have a lazy day. It basically consisted of eating, watching TV, eating again, and watching more TV. She's not complaining though. This week was long as hell and she just wanted to do nothing. She told him this when he asked her if she wanted to do anything today and he just shrugged his shoulders before plopping down on the couch.

But now, out of fucking nowhere, he starts criticizing her TV show choices. Like, what the fuck? They were literally just sitting in almost silence and he just blurts that kind of shit out. Her TV shows aren't even _weird_. She watches Grey's Anatomy and Pretty Little Liars. Probably two of the most _non_-weird TV shows out right now. And she may have made him watch a few episodes of Orange is the New Black with her on netflix a few nights back but, come on, Laura Prepon is fucking hot, okay?

"_Yes_," He turns his head to look at her. "You do."

And Santana's just mad now so she narrows her eyes at him before sending a punch his way. She has a little smirk on her face when Finn squeals like a little fucking girl. She didn't even punch that hard. And it was his fault anyway. If anyone watches weird TV shows in this apartment, it's him.

"Mean."

"Pussy."

Finn's jaw drops and Santana chuckles a little as she snatches the remote from him and looks through the guide. She doesn't even see him coming before she finds herself flat on her back with him on top of her. He immediately starts tickling her sides and Santana laughs out loud as he finds her ticklish spot. "Finn!" She squeals and she tries to get him off her but he just uses his mammoth hand to hold down _both_ her hands. "Stop! Let me go!"

Finn shakes his head. "Say you're sorry." And Santana continues to laugh as his free hands comes up to her neck and starts tickling around her ear. Fuck. How the hell did he know to tickle her there?

"No!" She shouts and wraps her legs around his waist to try and get him to stop moving. Finn just shakes his head again as he tickles all around her neck. "Okay, fine!" She yells, and tightens her grip on his hips. "I'm sorry!"

"For what?"

"For calling you a pussy!" Finn smiles proudly before finally releasing her hands but he doesn't move from on top of her. He's just looking down at her as her chest moves up and down as she tries to catch her breath. Her eyes lock with his and she bites down on her lip as she looks into them. She never noticed how nice they were. "You suck."

Finn laughs as he climbs off of her (damn) and sits back on the couch. "No I don't."

Santana rolls her eyes as she sits up and adjusts her tank top that got messed up during the tickle attack. "Yes you do."

Finn throws his arm around her and leans back into the couch. "Shut up, Santana." It's a surprise, even to her, that she actually does


	2. Chapter 2

She gets sick one day and she honestly thinks she going to die. Like dead. She woke up with the worst headache in her life and she felt like she was a fucking icicle. Her nose is running non stop and she feels like her lungs are about to burst out of her chest. She has never felt this bad in her life. It's even worse than the first time she drank and decided she could polish off a bottle of SoCo by herself. She was trying to prove she wasn't a lightweight, okay? She had a big ego in high school. But yeah, it's worst than _that_.

She did manage to text Daniel and tell her that she would need someone to cover her classes for today, though. He told her it was fine and that he hoped she got better. He's a nice guy. That was earlier this morning though. Now she's cuddled under her blankets, trying like hell to warm herself up. It's not working. Her TV is playing some movie but she's not paying attention, she can barely keep her eyes open but she can't fall asleep.

"Santana?" She hears through the door and then Finn knocks before opening her door. She looks like shit. She feels like shit and she doesn't feel like talking right now. But Finn has this scared look on his face and he rushes to her bed and sits down next to her, placing his hand on her forehead. "Fuck, San, you're burning up." If he didn't look like he cared so much she would've hit him.

"I-I'm cold." She shivers as Finn's huge hands (holy fuck she didn't realize they were so big) move across her face, feeling every inch of it. It's like he thinks if he does that it'll help (it does). Her eyes drift closed but pop back open when she feels him slip one of his hands under her legs and one behind her shoulders before standing up and sweeping her up in his arms. "Where are we going?" she asks and automatically hates herself for being so helpless and vulnerable.

But Finn shushes her and presses a kiss to her temple. "You need a cool bath." He says simply and walks her into the bathroom. Santana lets her head fall against his shoulder and maybe she even cuddles into his chest a little. Don't blame her, okay? He's nice and warm and she likes the way he feels. Plus she's fucking freezing her ass off so, yeah. Finn kicks the bathroom door open and sets her on the counter before going over to the tub and turning the water on. Santana reaches for the bottom of her shirt she's wearing and tries to tug it up but she doesn't manage to get it past her chest. Finn turns around and sees her struggling so he reaches forward to help her but pulls back quick. "Uh, do you want me to-"

"Please."

Finn smiles at her before moving his hands to the end of her shirt and pulling it up over her head. She's not wearing a bra or panties (shut up, she was sleeping) and she almost wants to laugh at Finn's face when he realizes that. He's trying very hard not to look at her chest and it's cute how _he's_the one blushing right now. Deciding this is probably torture for him, Santana reaches out and holds her arms out for him. Yes, she may look like a fucking two year old right now but she's sick. Whenever she's sick she gets all clingy and wants to be taken care of.

"Can you help me in the tub?"

"Y-Yeah." Finn stutters nervously and Santana lets a little smirk form on her face as he hooks his arm under her legs again and around her shoulders and picks her up. He walks her over to the tub and gently sets her in and she shrieks as soon as her body hits the water. Finn has look on his face between wanting to save her from the freezing ass water and wanting to keep her in there because he knows it's gonna help. "You only have to stay in there for a little while, San. It'll help break your fever."

Santana shivers as she brings her legs up to her chest and sets her chin on them. The water feels like fucking ice and she can't stop her teeth from chattering. She watches as Finn moves to the linen closet and grabs a rag out before coming back and kneeling next to the tub. He carefully dips the rag in the water before gently sliding it across her back. Santana's not gonna lie, it feels good. She tilts her head forward as Finn slides the towel across the back of her neck and down her spine. The water starts to not feel so bad and Santana lets herself relax as Finn continues to wipe her down. She's never had a guy do this for her. It's nice.

When Finn finally tells her she can come out, he grabs her a towel before wrapping it around her and picking her up again. She's actually starting to like this whole being carried thing. Usually, she doesn't like when a guy carriers her. Anywhere. God gave her two legs for a reason. But with Finn, it feels good to be pressed up against his chest. Which is weird. He's Finn.

He sets her down on her bed and she tells him to just grab her a shirt out of her drawer. Finn nods once before doing just that and managing to pick out her favorite one. It's big and warm and she actually forgot where she got it from. He helps her pull it over her head before she climbs back under the covers and cuddles into her bed. She feels so much better. Finn goes back into the bathroom for a minute and comes back with two tylenol and a glass of water. He holds them out to her and then sets the glass on her bedside table before telling her that he's gonna make her some soup. He doesn't ask, just tells.

When he comes back, she's almost asleep but he tells her that she needs some food in her stomach for that tylenol she just took. So she sits herself as best as she can and leans back against the headboard of her bed as Finn places the try with soup and some ginger ale on her lap. He make her chicken noodle and it feels amazing running down her throat. She only manages to eat a few spoonfuls before she's telling Finn that she's tired as fuck and wants to go to sleep. He laughs as he moves the tray away from her and helps her get comfortable.

Before he moves to leave, Santana grabs his hand and says, "Thank you." and he smiles at her before placing a kiss to her forehead and heading out. It doesn't take Santana long to fall asleep but when she does she's thinking about everything that Finn just did for her.

Nobody's ever done anything like this for her before.

She's slowly coming to the realization that he's the best friend she's ever had.

* * *

"No."

"Yes."

"_No._"

"_Yes._"

Santana can not fucking believe this is happening. She's literally fighting with a five year old.

Over fucking Lucky Charms.

She and Finn are at the grocery store because their apartment seriously has no food. And she was hungry and in the mood for pasta but when she looked in the pantry she found that there was none. So she dragged Finn to the store with her. They pretty much have the same taste in food. Which is just about anything. So they can agree on what things to buy and what not to buy.

But every fucking time they come to the store Finn argues that he _needs_to have Lucky Charms for Saturday mornings when he's sitting on the couch watching sports highlights. Santana thinks it's a fucking joke that a grown ass man still eats Lucky Charms. A cereal designed for kids from age two to ten. And they have this argument every time they come. Santana tells him he's a fucking kid. Finn tells her that she's just old and mean.

"Finn, seriously, the cereal isn't even that good. It gets soggy fast and the marshmallows end up tasting like shit."

"That's why you eat all marshmallows first and the cereal after!" He argues, throwing the box in the wagon. Santana rolls her eyes and puts it back on the shelf. "San!"

"What? I'm making you cooler Finn. Only freaks still eat Lucky Charms."

"Then I'm a freak."

"I don't wanna live with a freak." Finn's jaw drops and Santana narrows her eyes at him in challenge. She's bluffing right now but she won't tell him that. He gets frown on his face as he gruffly pulls the wagon forward without saying anything else. Santana sighs as she throws her hands in the air. "Finn." He doesn't answer, just continues on down the aisle. Santana rolls her eyes as she snatches the stupid box of Lucky Charms off the shelf and stalks after him. She throws the box in the wagon and says, "You're a child."

"Yeah." Finn shrugs, beaming down at her as he slings an arm over her shoulder. "But you still like me."

Santana crosses her arms over chest but doesn't say anything because, yeah, she kinda does.

* * *

There's a gym that Santana goes to about a block away from the apartment and she likes to go there at least twice a week. It's nice and the people there are cool and she gets her workout in without having to listen to stupid people who try and make conversation. Like, no. She does not want to know that you have been working out for five months now and you're still not seeing results (don't even ask, okay? that guy was seriously a creep). She usually stays for a couple hours before heading home. Sometimes Finn comes with her, other times she goes alone. It doesn't really matter to her though. But tonight, Finn had to stay home and study for a test he has in a few days or something. Santana wasn't really listening when he was explaining, so.

On her walk home she runs into Rachel. She's on her way to the gym too. They greet each other with hugs, even though Santana feels disgusting, and chat for a little while. Santana purposefully doesn't tell rachel that Finn is living with her, though. She knows that if she tells her, Rachel will ask a lot of questions and she just doesn't want to answer any right now. She just wants to go home, scarf down whatever Finn made for dinner and go to sleep. But Rachel tells her that she and Kurt are apparently having a Chicago screening party next week and then invites Santana to come along. Santana rolls her eyes and tells Rachel she'll think about it before telling her that she's tired and gross and in desperate need of a shower. Rachel laughs and hugs her bye before actually letting her leave. The only reason Santana doesn't grumble about that is because she just doesn't have the energy for it right now.

As soon as Santana steps through the front door she could smell the dinner that she knew was waiting for her. She dropped her things by the door before kicking off her running shoes and heading toward the kitchen. Finn is standing at the stove, a towel over his shoulder with a spatula in his hand. She leans against the doorway with a smirk as she watches Finn work in the kitchen. If she lets her mind wander far enough, she'd think that he looks sexy right now. But she won't.

"Hey there, Martha, what'cha making?"

Finn narrows his eyes at her as he flips a patty in the pan. "Shut up." He says, chuckling a little. Santana blows him a kiss as she walks up to the counter. "I made homemade burgers." He tells her, moving to cut up some lettuce and onions. She takes a sniff of the air and it smells fucking amazing. Her mouth is already watering at the sight. "It's should be done in a few minutes."

Santana nods. "Okay, I'm gonna take a shower." she says, walking out of the kitchen. She takes a hot shower, washing the sweat and grime of the gym off of her. As she's stepping out, she hears Finn call and tell her that dinner's ready. She pulls on a pair of shorts, that she loves, a tank top. She doesn't bother with a bra because it's just Finn. She's sure he's not going to mind.

She heads back into the kitchen and sees Finn bringing two plates down from the cupboard and setting them on the counter. She walks toward the stove where he has everything laid out and takes the plate he offers her and turns around to grab the bag of buns they bought while out shopping the other day. She pulls one out for herself and one out for him before holding her plate up to take the burger he's holding out for her. She adds lettuce and tomato before putting the other end of the bun on and heading off into the living room and plopping herself down on the couch.

Finn comes out a few minutes later with two beers in his hand and sits next to her. He props his feet up on the coffee table and throws one arm back over the couch. Santana leans a little against him as she takes a bite of her burger. And, as usual, it's amazing.

"This is good."

Finn smiles over at her, "Duh. What kind of servant would I be if I served you shitty food?" He teases and Santana punches his side a little. Ass. She does not treat him like a servant. But he's laughing anyway so who cares. "How was the gym?"

"Fine." She shrugs as she watches what's on the TV in front of her. "I ran into Rachel." She looks over at him to see his reaction but he just nods his head and keeps his eyes on the screen.

"Cool."

"She and Kurt are having a party next week."

"Yeah?" She nods, "You gonna go?"

Santana scrunches up her nose a bit as she looks up at him, "I dunno. I love Chicago just as much as the next person but a whole night with Kurt and Rachel and all their theatre friends? Not really my ideal night."

Finn laughs as he leans down to grab his beer before taking a sip. Santana watches him before taking the bottle out of his hand and taking a sip of her own. He doesn't say anything. It's really no big deal. "Well," he starts, looking over at her. "I can go with you if you want to, you know, keep you from murdering anyone."

Santana laughs before taking another bite of her burger. "You don't have to." she tells him after she's swallowed her food, "Besides, I didn't even tell Rachel that you were here, let alone living in my apartment."

Finn looks kind of confused when he turns to her. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why didn't you tell her I was living with you?"

Santana shrugs, her eyes on the TV "I just didn't get around to it, I guess."

"Oh." He has this weird tone in his voice. Santana almost thinks he's sad. But then she thinks about and realizes that he really shouldn't be. But he does move his arm from around her which kind of causes her to fall a little then stands up from the couch. "I, uh, got some homework to do so I'm gonna go do that." He tells her quickly before walking out of the living room.

Santana's left there thoroughly fucking confused as she watches him walk down the hall and close his bedroom door. She has literally no idea what the fuck just happened but she knows she doesn't like how he sounded before he left. It was almost like he was hurt.

But what she can't figure out is why.

* * *

She finds out from Kurt that Rachel and Finn went out for dinner last night and she really doesn't know how she feels about that. Apparently Rachel showed up at Santana's apartment while she was at class and Finn was the one who answered the door. Santana can only imagine how much of a shock that was to both of them. But Kurt said that Rachel basically lunged herself at him and told him that they just _had_to catch up. So they went out to dinner. Kurt said Rachel came home with the widest smile on her face and gushed to him about how great it was to see Finn again and that she was starting to remember why she fell in love with him the first place. Whatever the fuck that reason was, Santana doesn't like it.

She got home late last night and Finn was already in bed so she figured he just stayed home and did some studying or whatever he does while she's gone. It did surprise her when she came home and didn't find any food waiting for her but she figured he just ordered in. She wasn't that hungry anyway. So she went to sleep and when she woke up the next morning he was already gone. And that's when Kurt calls her.

He says he's just calling to remind her that their screening party is tonight and that she better be coming because he doesn't think he can handle Rachel tonight all by himself. No matter how much he loves the girl, she still can be a little much at times. She laughs because she knows _exactly_what he's talking about. But she tells him she's coming and then he asks if Finn is coming. That question shocked the fuck out of her because, one, how did Kurt know Finn was in town? Two, how the fuck did he know Finn was with her?

She asks him all of this and then he explains to her about the Rachel thing and yeah. By the time he's done telling her all about Rachel and Finn's little date night, Santana's practically fuming. Which was weird. Because she shouldn't be. But she tells Kurt that she'll be there tonight but she has no fucking idea if Finn is going and that, frankly, she doesn't care. Kurt asks her if she's okay but she just tells him that she has a class to get to and that she has to go then hangs up.

So, yeah, maybe she was lying. She doesn't have any classes today and she's just planning on staying in bed today. Maybe go out shopping for a bit, but she hasn't decided yet. She just wanted to get him off the phone so she wouldn't fly it at the wall. She's fucking pissed. And the worst part is that she has no idea _why_. She doesn't like Finn. Well, she doesn't like him like _that_. They're friends. And roommates.

That's it.

* * *

"You okay, San?"

"Yup."

"You sure?"

"Yup."

They're walking toward Kurt and Rachel's apartment and Santana really doesn't want to be. She knows she told Kurt she'd come but she's thinking about turning around and going back right now. She doesn't really feel like watching Finn and Rachel make out all night. So.

And she's mad.

But she doesn't know why.

When Finn came home from his classes, Santana shut her bedroom door and locked it. She didn't really want to see him right now. Or talk to him, for that matter. It's just that she didn't want to hear that he and Rachel were gonna get back together. As much as she loves Rachel, that girl was not good for him when they were in high school. Even though she wasn't really that close to Finn in high school she still felt bad for him after all the shit that he went through. Shit that was mainly caused by Rachel.

So, no, she does not think that them getting back together would be a good thing. And that's why she locked herself away. She knew that if she saw his face she wouldn't be able to tell him that. She didn't want to hurt more than he's already been.

But a few hours went by and Santana was still holed up in her room. He tried knocking a few times and sent her a few text messages asking if she was okay but she didn't answer, to either of them. The only time she came out was when she was dressed and ready to go. She didn't say much just told him that she was leaving and that's when he told her that he was coming too.

So now they're walking into Kurt and Rachel's building and Santana is dreading the entire night ahead of her. The elevator ride is silent and Santana stands as far away from Finn as possible and when they get to their front door, she says nothing. Finn looks at her and she keeps her eyes down as he sighs and raises his hand to knock.

Rachel's face is the first thing Santana sees when she looks up and the girl seems like she is seriously on something when she says, "Hi!" and throws her arms around Finn. Santana rolls her eyes as she pushes past them and makes her way into the house. The party is already in full blown motion and their are seriously a hundred people here. Santana spots Kurt by, what she's guessing is the refreshment table so makes her way over to him.

"So, when the hell does this movie start?" She asks, nudging his hip with hers when she comes to stand next to him.

Kurt looks up from arranging some stupid little sandwiches and smiles at her before pulling her into a hug. "Ah, Santana. How I've missed you."

Santana laughs as she hugs him and pats his back lightly. "Of course you do, I'm awesome." Kurt rolls his eyes at her before going back to what he was doing. Santana picks up something from the table and pops it into her mouth. "But seriously, when the hell is this shindig starting? The sooner it starts, the sooner it can end and I can leave."

"We're gonna start it in a few minutes." Kurt tells her, "There's drinks in the kitchen."

Santana nods and pats his back once before making her way to the kitchen. As she's pouring herself a drink she sees Finn and Rachel on the couch chatting away. Rachel is practically in Finn's lap and she's laughing and touching him. It's annoying.

Kurt calls everyone to the living room and announces that 'the film is about to begin!' so Santana pours herself another drink before walking into the living room and plopping down on the loveseat. Finn, who was talking to one of Kurt's friends, makes his way toward her and sits next to her. Fuck. He smiles at her and she scoots herself away a little. She just can't be _that_close to him right now.

The movie starts and just about everyone in this fucking apartment starts singing along to 'All That Jazz' and Santana rolls her eyes. Of fucking course. Santana's pretty sure majority of the people here know every single lyric to all the songs in this entire fucking movie. Halfway through 'Cell Block Tango' Rachel comes over and decides to sit her ass between her and Finn. Like the fucking chair isn't small enough, she decides that she needs to sit right here.

Santana rolls her eyes as she scooches herself all the way to the end of the couch. Santana looks over her shoulder and sees Rachel lean her head against Finn's shoulder and that's when she decides she's had enough. She gets up from the seat walks out of the living room. She passes Kurt on her way out but she just tells him she's tired and needs to get the fuck home. He doesn't say anything else, just gives her a sad little smile before telling her to have a safe walk home. Santana nods before waving a little and pulling the front door open.

She's in the elevator and the door is about to shut when she sees Finn running toward her yelling, "San, wait!" and she just leans forward and presses the 'close door' button. She really can't talk to him right.

Thankfully (not really), he doesn't follow her home. He's gotten better at reading her signs and he must've known that she wanted to be alone right now. As soon as she gets home, she rushes to her bedroom and slams the door shut. After peeling off all her clothes, she climbs in her bed and falls asleep hoping that aching feeling in her chest goes away.

It doesn't.

* * *

She decides to avoid him for a few days. Which she'd like to point out will be really fucking hard. Given that they live together and everything. But she will manage.. She calls Daniel first thing in the morning and asks him if she can switch the classes she takes and the classes she teaches to ones that are at night. He tells her that it's fine and that she'll just have to stay a little longer because the classes at night usually run over. She has no problem with this. The less time she spends at home the better. And since all of Finn's classes are usually during morning and daytime, she will probably be gone by the time he comes home. Which is what she wants right now.

The first day of her new schedule, she sleeps in and doesn't answer when he knocks on her door, asking if she wants some breakfast. She's starving, but she can eat after he leaves. She knows she probably looks like a fucking child with all this avoiding and shit but she just can't be around him, okay? Finn has this thing over her where she can't lie to him. And if he was to ever ask her if she was okay she wouldn't be able to tell that she's not. That she hasn't been since he went to dinner that night. So she avoids. It's just easier this way.

Her first class starts at four and Finn's last class ends at three (yes she knows his schedule so shut the fuck up) so she decides to leave a little earlier to make sure she doesn't run into him. She doesn't. She gets to the dance studio a little early but it's okay. She just waits outside until the class before is done. Her last class that she teaches ends at around ten. It was an older age group ballet class and a few of the girls asked to stay and practice for a little while so Santana stayed and helped them out a little. So by the time she actually gets out of the dance studio, after cleaning up and stuff, it's already close to eleven. She takes her time walking home because she is definitely not in a rush to get there. The walk home from the dance studio usually takes her about fifteen minutes, but tonight ended up taking about half an hour. When she walks in the front door, the apartment is silent and there's no sign of Finn anywhere.

Thank god.

So she just locks up the door and turns off the lights before making her way to her bedroom. She passes by Finn's and sees the door already closed and the light off so she just quietly steps into hers and closes her door softly.

The rest of the week pretty much goes by like this.

She sleeps in, he goes to class, she goes to class, he comes home. She hasn't actually seen him in, like, five days. Not that she's counting or anything. He did leave her a little note one morning but she didn't even read it, just crumpled it up and threw it away. And yeah, maybe that was a bitch move but she just reminds herself that this is all for the best. Even if she misses him. A lot.

Friday night she walks in the front door at around twelve thirty. A few of the other instructors invited her out to eat after all their classes were over so she decided to tag along. It was fun. The rest of the dancers are really cool and she likes them. She's pretty sure they like her too because, you know, she's her. It was late so she was pretty sure that Finn would be in bed by the time she walked in and she was right. He just wasn't _in_his bed, he was passed out on the couch.

Well, she thought he was until she heard, "San?"

Fuck. She getting really good at the whole being quiet thing.

"Uh, yeah, it's me." She says as she closes the front door and tosses her keys on the table.

Finn sits up from the couch and rubs his eyes as he turns around to look at her. "Haven't seen you around in a while."

Santana looks down as she shrugs. "I went to dinner with a few friends after work." She knows that's not what he meant but she doesn't really wanna tell him that she called her boss and asked if she could move her schedule so she could avoid the guy who she's pretty sure she has feelings for. No. She did not want to tell him all of that.

But Finn shakes his head as he stands up from the couch, "No," he tells her, "I meant all week. I haven't seen you in, like, forever." He's standing in front of her now but she really doesn't want to look at him. So she keeps her head down as she play with the end of her shirt.

"I've just been really busy. With work and stuff."

Then he puts his hands on her shoulders and asks, "Are you okay, Santana?" No. She is not okay. But she can feel the tears prick at her eyes so she nods anyway.

"I'm fine." She lies, finally glancing up at him and giving him a little smile. "I'm just tired so I'm gonna head to bed." She pushes his hands off her shoulders and turns around to head down the hall.

She's almost to her room when she hears, "Hey, San?" and she looks over her shoulder and raises an eyebrow at him. "I miss you." She doesn't say anything. She can't say anything. She can't tell him that she misses him so much that she's hurting right now because then she'd have to tell him _why_she misses him. So instead, she just turns back around and heads toward her room, shutting the door softly behind her.

Santana's never been the type of girl who cried herself to sleep. Hell, she's never been a girl to cry at _all_. Tears are for people who let their emotions control them. Santana's never been one of those people.

That changed tonight.

* * *

Kurt shows up at her apartment on Saturday morning and Santana already knows what he's here for. Finn was already gone when she woke so she's pretty sure he's the one who called him. He probably thinks Kurt can figure out what the hell is going on with her and then later tell him so he can fix it. Which he can't. Not right now anyway. She needs to figure out what she's feeling before anything can be fixed.

"What are you doing here?" She only asks this because she needs to make sure she's right. And that Kurt didn't just decide to pop by for a visit. But she's pretty sure she's right.

"Wow." Kurt holds a hand to his chest. "Is my favorite ex-roommate slash ex-gleemate not excited to see me? I'm hurt, Santana. Sincerely hurt."

Santana rolls her eyes as she steps aside to let him in. "You're such a drama queen." She mumbles as he walks past her and makes his way to the couch. She grabs the cup of coffee she made for herself before going over to the couch and sitting down next to him. "But really, why are you here?"

"Finn called me."

See. Santana Lopez is never wrong. Especially when it comes to Finn Hudson.

"Of course he did."

"He's worried about you."

"He shouldn't be."

"_I'm _worried about you."

"_You _shouldn't be."

"Santana." It's the way he says her name that makes Santana look up from where she was watching the steam leave her coffee cup. "Talk to me."

Santana shrugs her shoulders as she takes a sip. "About what?"

Kurt narrows his eyes at her. "Don't play dumb. I know something's going on with you. I saw it last night at the party."

"I was tired."

Kurt raises an eyebrow at her, "Tired?" Yeah, he doesn't sound convinced at all. Shit.

Santana puts her coffee on the table before curling her legs under her after she leans back on the couch. "Yes, Kurt. I was tired. I worked all night and-"

"Yeah, Finn told me your schedule changed." Kurt chimes in, turning toward her and putting his leg up on the couch. "How come?"

Santana shrugs. "Wanted to."

"You wanted to change your schedule?" Santana nods once, "Why? I thought you liked the classes you were teaching before."

Santana sighs as looks at him. She knows he's not gonna give up until she tells him exactly what's wrong. That's the thing about Kurt. If something's wrong, he'll go out of his way to fix it. Whether it be for good or bad.

"Can we just not talk about me right now?" She asks. She must sound like she's about to cry or something because when she meets Kurt's eye he's wearing a sad expression on his face as he nods.

They sit in silence for a little while before Kurt says, "You wanna go get some breakfast?" Santana glances up at him and feels the side of her mouth quirk up a little, "My treat."

"Oh my gosh, yes." Santana says, pushing herself off the couch. "I'm fucking starving." Kurt laughs as she pulls on his hand and drags him out the door.

* * *

Because it's her day off, Santana decides to treat herself to a little shopping trip. She hasn't taken one in a while and she feels like she deserves it. Hell, after the week she had, she definitely deserved it. Yesterday when Kurt came over and they went out to breakfast she used the time with him to clear her head. She didn't think about Finn or what her feelings for him were, she just had fun with her friend. She's hoping this shopping trip will do that too. But come on, it's shopping. What girl _doesn't_ haven't fun while shopping?

She makes her way over to Madison and Saks Fifth Avenue and may splurge a little. But hey, her dad just put money in her account and she just got paid so she has some money to spend. Besides, every girl should be allowed to splurge on a few (lot) pairs of shoes every once in a while. She even finds this amazing pair of Louboutin heels that would look great on her mom. So she buys them. When she's at the check out desk she gets to thinking about how much she really misses her parents.

That's when she gets the great idea to take a drive on down to Ohio and pay them a little visit.

She calls Daniel on her way home tells him that she's gonna need a few days off. He asks her what her reason is and she just tells him that she really needs to see her family right now. He tells her she can take as long as she likes and that he hopes things get better for her (he really is the best boss in the world). When she gets home, she packs herself a bag, puts a few pairs of clothes inside before zipping it up and leaving it by the door. She doesn't really have to pack toiletries and stuff because she still has a lot of her old things at her parents house so she should be okay. She contemplates leaving Finn a note but ultimately decides against it before grabbing her bag and her keys before heading back down to her car and heading toward the highway.

The trip takes her about eight hours so she gets to her parent's house at about nine and she's fucking exhausted. She leaves her shit in the car, deciding that she'll just ask her dad to get it for her later, before trudging her way up to the steps. She still has a key for their house on her keychain so she just opens up the door herself and steps inside.

"Mom? Daddy?" She calls as she drops her keys on the table beside the door and walks further into the house. She smiles as soon as she sees her parents come out of the living room.

"Santana?" Her mom tilts her head as both her parents walk up to her. "What are you doing here, honey?"

Santana shrugs as she looks at her parents. "I just missed you guys."

"Oh, sweetheart." Her parents both wrap their arms around her and Santana relishes in the feeling of being home again. "We missed you too."

They pull away from each other and her dad pushes a piece of hair behind her ear as his eyes examine hers. "You seem troubled, princess." That's the thing about her dad. He's always had a way of knowing when something's wrong. Especially with her.

Santana smiles sadly as she leans into her father's hand. "I'm really tired." She tells them, "Can we talk some more tomorrow?"

Her mother cups her cheek. "Of course. Go on upstairs and get some sleep. We'll talk in the morning."

"Okay."

"Goodnight, princess." Her father kisses her cheek then her mother and Santana bids them both goodnight before making her way up the same stairs she climbed throughout her entire childhood and heading toward her room.

She checks her phone and sees that she has no missed calls or messages.

Figures.

* * *

The next morning isn't the same story. She has two missed calls, both from Finn, and one text from Kurt asking if she wants to go out tonight. She ignores all three messages and turns her phone off before going back to sleep for a few more hours.

The next time she wakes up it's to her mother's voice, asking her if she wants to go out to lunch. Yeah. She literally slept the entire day. Whoops. But her stomach growls and she realizes she's fucking starving so she's up out of her bed in a second and heads for the bathroom.

They go to lunch at one of her favorite little Bistro's in town and she just loves it. She and her mom used to come here all the time for lunch after all their shopping trips and salon dates so it's special to her. She orders herself a glass of white wine and ignores the look on her mom's face as she also orders herself the club sandwich.

Once the waitress is gone, her mom puts her elbows on table and gives her the look. The look that means it's time to fess up and start talking. Fuck. "Okay, mija, it's just you and me now." She says gently, leaning over to grab Santana's hand. "What's _really _going on?"

Santana looks down at their hands and sighs, "I got a roommate."

"Really? That's great."

"No," Santana shakes her head. The waitress comes back with her glass of wine and her mother's ice tea and she thanks her before looking back at her mom. "It sucks. I don't know why I let you and daddy talk me into getting one. Roommates suck."

Her mom leans back in her chair and raises an eyebrow at her. "What's so bad about it? Is she-"

"He."

"He?" Santana nods, taking a sip of her drink. Her mom doesn't look too happy right now. "Well did he hurt you or-"

Santana almost chokes on her drink. "No!" she shouts, dabbing at her chin with a napkin. "No, you know who he is."

"I know him?" Santana nods again as she reaches forward and grabs a breadstick and takes a bite. "Who is it?"

"Finn Hudson."

"Finn Hudson?" Her mom tilts her head to the side, narrowing her eyes at her in question. "Like, your old Glee club friend Finn Hudson?"

"Yup."

"The tall one?"

"Yup."

"Isn't he a nice guy? Why would being his roommate suck?"

Santana rolls her eyes as she dusts off the breadstick crumbs her fingers and takes another sip of her wine. "He's the nicest guy I know." She tells her mom who just stays quiet waiting for her to continue. "But I think I might-" Santana groans as she throws her head back in frustration. Why does he make her this crazy. She feels her mom's hand on her arm, silently telling her it's okay to finish. Her mom always has a way of making her talk. It's both good and bad. Sometimes. "I think I might like him." She says it super fast and stuffs another breadstick in her mouth.

Her mom's eyebrows are seriously so high they're gonna get lost in her hair pretty soon. She just sits there for a little while, letting everything sink in. Santana is too. This is the first time she's admitted that she might like Finn out loud. It actually feels good to get it out of her system. Their food comes out and everything looks amazing and only when the waitress leaves does her mother ask, "So why are you here and not telling him how you feel?"

Fuck.

What is she suppose to tell her? Oh mom, I like Finn Hudson but he's in love with someone else. Hell no.

"He has feelings for someone else."

"Are you sure? Maybe he-"

Santana shakes her head. "No, mom. He loves her."

"Oh, honey." Her reaches over and takes her hand and Santana's surprised how much better it makes her feel. "I'm sorry." Santana nods sadly as she looks down at her food in front of her. They drop all conversation about Finn for the rest of lunch. They talk about her dance classes and the kids in her class. Her mom tells her that Mrs. Martin, who lives down the road from them is starting a book club and she's thinking of joining. Santana tells her not to do because then she'd be like one of those step-ford wives who do nothing but cook and clean all day. Her mom agrees with her and they both laugh about the idea entirely.

She has a good time with her mom. She always does. But that doesn't mean she didn't let her mind wander to Finn every once in awhile. It was kinda hard not to.

* * *

When she turns her phone on later on that night while she's in bed she has seventeen unread text messages nine missed calls, and seven voicemails. They're all from Finn. She tries not to let her heart beat too fast as she listens to her voicemails first. They start off from last night, asking where she was and if she was working late then as she gets through the bulk of them they go from worried, to scared, to angry (which, she's not really sure why _he's_the one who's angry) and then back to worried again. By the time she reaches the seventh voicemail he sounds like he's on the brink of a heart attack and he tells her that he's going to call the police soon. The last voicemail was left about an hour ago so she figures he didn't _actually_call the cops. So she decides to read the texts, the first five are basically the same thing '_hey san, are you working late tonight?_' and '_you weren't here this morning, I guess you started work early?_' and then they start to get more frantic like, '_no one has heard from you. I'm getting worried_' and '_please call me Santana. I'm worried about you_'. The last text message is '_I don't know where you are, San. But I'm really worried about you right now and I just need you to call me or text me to let me know that you're okay. Please._'

The last text message is the one that gets her to finally give in and tell him that she's okay. She figures if she doesn't soon he'll literally set up a search and rescue team until he finds her. So she opens up a blank text and writes, '_I'm fine. Stop worrying and leave me alone.'_ Maybe it's a little mean, but she thinks she deserves to be a little mean right now. After it's sent, she throws her phone back on the bedside table and climbs into bed. She flicks through the channels on the TV and after finding nothing good to watch she just leaves it on a random Criminal Minds episode and cuddles back into her pillow.

Her eyes are just about closed and she's halfway asleep when she hears her phone go off. She reaches over and picks it and groans at the name she sees. _Finn_. She ignores the call and puts her phone back on the table before turning the TV off and reaching up to shut the lamp off. She's finally cuddled back into her pillow and more than ready to go to sleep when she hears her fucking phone again. She groans loudly because she knows who it is and knows that he's not gonna stop until she answers. He's just a fucking ass like that. So she angrily sits up in bed and grabs her phone off the table and answers before yelling, "What?!" into it.

"_Santana?_"

"Who the fuck did you think it would be, Finn?" Okay. So maybe she's being a super huge bitch right now but shes tired as fuck and she does not need to be dealing with this right now.

"_Sorry I just-where are you?_"

"None of your business."

"_Santana._" He sighs over the phone and Santana calms herself down a little. "_Can you just tell me if you're okay?_"

"Didn't you get my text?" She rolls her eyes. Of course he needs to _hear_it. "I'm fine."

"_Can you tell me where you are?_"

"No."

"_Please._"

"No, Finn."

"_Why not?_"

"Because."

"_Because what?_"

"Because I don't want to tell you!"

"_Did I do something to make you mad or something? Because I'm super confused right now._"

"Like that's new for you." Fuck. She shouldn't have said that. He didn't deserve that. "Sorry, I'm just tired and I wanna go to sleep."

"_Santana, please._"

Santana sighs, closing her eyes tight. "I'm safe. That's all you need to know right now. I'm tired so goodbye, Finn."

"_Santana wait-_" She hangs up before he can finish. She can't do this right needs to sleep and not think about him.

She accomplishes neither of them.

* * *

After her third day in Lima she starts to remember why the hell she got her ass out of there.

It's boring as fuck.

And as much as she loves her parents, she can only hang out with them for so long. They went to her Abuela's house yesterday and she had a good time. She loves her Abuela but seriously, she needs to spend some time with people her own age. Too bad the only person she wants to see is the one who pushed her here anyway.

She decides she's gonna drive back to back to New York first thing tomorrow morning. She has dinner with her parents at Breadstix, her favorite restaurant in Lima, and it's a good time for everyone. Her parents tell her that she can come back any time. Which, yeah, she knows, but it's still nice to here.

After dinner and then dessert, they head back home and Santana's ready to just pass out and save her energy for the drive back tomorrow but when they pull up their driveway her jaw drops.

No. Fucking. Way.

Her parents are quiet with their heads bowed and Santana knows this is their fault. Actually, her mother's fault. That woman can not keep anything to herself.

"What is he doing here?"

"Sweetheart-"

"Don't 'sweetheart' me, mother. What is he doing here?" She snaps, glaring at both her parents, who look at her with guilty faces. Good. They should look guilty. Because they are.

Her dad unbuckles his seatbelt turns around in his seat so he's looking at her. "Santana your mother and I thought that you two should talk."

"Talk?" Santana scoffs, "You want me to talk to him? Fine. I'll talk to him." Her mom turns around to say something to her but Santana just holds up a finger to her before pushing the door open and slamming it shut behind her. She storms over to where the huge idiot is standing by her door and yells, "What the _fuck_ are you doing here?"

"San-"

"Don't." She snaps, "You have no right to be here."

"Santana I just wanted-"

"You never listen to me, Finn." She cries, cutting him off. "Never. I tell you not to call me, you call five hundred times. I tell you not to worry about me, you show up at my fucking parent's house. So listen to me for one fucking time Finn when I tell you to just leave me the hell alone."

"Well I can't do that, Santana!" Whoa, she did not see that coming. She's never seen him this mad. Like, ever.

She throws her hands up in the air and lets out a loud sigh. "Well why the fuck not?"

"Because I fucking love you!"

The breath catches in her throat as he says (more like shouts) those words. The words she only _wished_ he would say to her. She just heard them come out of his mouth. She doesn't even know what to say right now. Tears are definitely falling from her eyes right now and she doesn't care. The guy she's pretty sure she's almost in love with told her he loved her.

"Y-You what?"

Finn sighs as he runs a hand through his hair. "I love you, Santana."

"Y-You d-do?"

Finn nods. "I do." He smirks, titling his head to the side. "I knew I loved you the moment you told me my pancakes were _fucking amazing_."

Santana lets out a little laugh as she wipes her face with the back of her hand. "You suck."

"Yeah." Finn shrugs, stepping closer to her. "But you still like me."

Santana smiles up at him before jumping up and wrapping her arms around his neck and crushing her lips with his. It feels like everything she imagined it would. And okay, yeah, maybe she did imagine what kissing Finn would be like a couple times but the real thing is so much better. Seriously.

She pulls away from him, letting her forehead rest against his. "Hey, Finn?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, too."

"I know."


End file.
